Tuesday, September 2, 2014

The first week of school has come to an end and Welcome Week at Collin College was incredibly successful! During the first week of school FOCUS plans events every day in order to meet as many new people as possible. Monday through Wednesday we had a booth in the main atrium inside of campus. We had students guess how many gumballs were in a jar, answer a spiritual question, and get ugly fake tattoos (yes, you read that right. It was Garrett's idea). It was a great way to meet new students and help cultivate some student life on campus! On Wednesday and Friday nights we had volleyball at the apartments on campus with an overwhelming number of new students. Thursday was our fellowship kickoff night and we had over 100 students attend! We barely had enough chairs for people to sit down! Our corefas (student leaders) worked tirelessly last week to meet new people and invite them into our community, and the number of new people on Thursday night was proof of their hard work. Here are some pictures from the week:

Student getting an "ugly" tattoo

My ugly tattoo, courtesy of Garrett Davis, campus pastor

Students answering a spiritual question

Students at Volleyball event

Thursday Night Fellowship with over 100 students!

Thursday Night Fellowship

Once the week was over we had a break on Saturday to rest and recharge. Then on Sunday we were back at work for the Corefa Retreat. Corefas (short for core-facilitators) are the student leaders of our community. They are the ones that are leading small groups, meeting with students one-on-one, and studying the Bible with people. They are really the backbone of our ministry! At the beginning of the year we take corefas on retreat to teach them how to be effective leaders in our community. I was honestly blown away at the number of students that have volunteered a year of their college lives to serve on their campuses. It is our biggest corefa team yet! There were 127 people at retreat, including FOCUS staff. Our theme for the retreat was Love in Ministry, based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.

All the student leaders and staff at our Corefa Retreat

Cores will begin next week on each of the campuses. Collin College will have 8 cores total, 4 girl cores and 4 guy cores. This is also the biggest corefa group that Collin has ever had! I'm so excited for the start of this year and can't wait to see lives changed for The Lord!

Thank you again for your prayers this month and for your financial support. One of the reasons that our ministry is growing so much is because we have people like you who love college students! We so greatly appreciate your partnership with us. Let me know if you have any specific or personal prayer requests! danielle@anyfocus.orgMuch love!

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

About Me

I joined FOCUS while a junior at the University of Texas at Dallas. It was there that I learned what it meant to be a disciple of Christ. I graduated with a Master's degree in Communication Disorders in 2011. Two years after graduation I became a ministry intern with FOCUS at The University of North Texas in Denton. After my internship, I joined the FOCUS staff at Collin College in Plano, and worked there for 2 years. After that I went back to Denton to serve at TWU for 2 years, and God has so kindly allowed me to come back to Collin, where (hopefully) I'll stay for a while!